


Of Silence and String

by treblingthunder



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Role Reversal, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-20
Updated: 2015-06-22
Packaged: 2018-04-05 06:47:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4170018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/treblingthunder/pseuds/treblingthunder
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A fanfiction for a One Piece AU in which Doflamingo and Rocinante are in switched roles. Doflamingo joins the Marines and infiltrates his little brother's pirate crew.</p>
<p>This fic is not spoiler-free. If you're not caught up to the Corazon flashback at least, this story probably won't make a lot of sense to you. Just a warning.</p>
<p>This story is still in progress. It will have a total of eleven chapters, plus the Prologue and Epilogue. I'll try to post AT LEAST one chapter a week, more if I can.</p>
<p>Thank you for reading!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

The little boy stumbles through the streets, sobbing. Tears stream from behind thick sunglasses, spattering onto the dirty ground, quickly trampled on by his bare feet. He’d run after his brother had taken out the rusty knife. He doesn’t want to see what will become of his father’s body. He doesn’t want to watch. He won’t have any part in this, even if it means that he won’t be a Noble again. This is the only time he can bear to leave his brother.

He looks around, watching out for any strangers. Everyone seems to know who they are, who they used to be. No matter where they go, they can’t escape the sins of their old comrades, the burning hatred the commoners feel for the World Nobles. _Doflamingo, Rocinante, I’m sorry you had to have a father like me._ His father’s apology still echoes in the boy’s head, and he falls to his knees on the ground, sobbing noisily. He can’t hold back the tears, can’t hold back the anguish. His own mind drowns out any other noises around him, just leaving him in his own world of pain and sorrow.

“Eh? A kid?” He hears the voice, and looks up. A tall man with an afro approaches him, and the poor child instinctively scrambles to his feet, backing away. He’s about to try to run for it when he sees the man is wearing a Marine’s uniform. A bit high-ranking, too, looks like. The man stops when he sees the boy’s fear, and just crouches down where he is, trying to appear less threatening.

“Hey, it’s alright, I’m not going to hurt you. Why are you crying?” He sure seems genuinely concerned, but the child has been through too much to trust him right off the bat. He says nothing, just tries to choke back his sobs. They won’t stop. The man tries again. “Are you alone? Don’t have parents or anything?”

The boy manages the tiniest nod. The Marine doesn’t seem to recognize him, at least. That’s good. Maybe he’ll actually help, instead of just abandoning him like the others.

“You got no family, huh?” The man sighs, scratching his head. Curse his pity for the child. He always has pity, even when he shouldn’t. Damn it. “…You wanna come with me?”

The boy hesitates. He does, he wants to go far away from here. Far away from all of this. And at least with the Marines…as a trainee, he’d be protected, right? Well, anything’s better than here. Even dying is better than here.

“Y-y-yes.” He stammers the word, and the man takes that as a cue to come a few steps closer, staying low, almost at level with the small child. He holds out a hand, and the kid takes it.

“I’m Sengoku. You got a name?” He stands at his full height again, starting to lead the kid away from the place that caused him so much pain until now.

“…” He doesn’t answer for a long minute. He decides he won’t give his family name. It’s just too dangerous. But he’s young, his given name isn’t terribly well known, hopefully. It’s been a couple years since anyone would have had even the chance to know it immediately upon hearing it. As the Marine ship comes into view, just before the other soldiers start looking at him in mild confusion, he speaks.

“…Doflamingo.” As he and Sengoku board the ship, his mind cries a silent apology to his little sibling in the distance. _I’m sorry, Roci. Please be okay.  
_

_I love you.  
_


	2. Day of Arrival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Doflamingo re-enters Rocinante's life.

“Young Master! A visitor, it’s—” “Never thought I’d see that one in person.” “Now isn’t this interesting…” The words ran back and forth between members of the family. News of a visitor reached the blond man in his room, which was already new, since usually Diamante or Trebol took care of such things. Corazon is a busy man, after all, which many things on his mind. He can’t be bothered to deal with every little person that comes to see the Donquixote Pirates. He sent the order for the guest to be brought to his room, if he was so important. The command was carried out, and a tall man, taller than Rocinante himself, stepped in, the door closing behind him. The young captain looked up to his face, and his eyes widened.

It had always troubled Roci how his brother had disappeared that day. Vanished without a trace, no proof he existed save for memories. Sometimes, Rocinante thought that he had only imagined an older brother, as a method for coping, for proving to himself that he wasn’t always alone before the executives found him. Today, fantasy is proven reality as he stares up at the man he long thought gone forever.

Doflamingo stood before him in a dapper suit, hair slicked back and hands in his pockets. He was wearing a pair of thick sunglasses, as he always was in his little brother’s memories, but they’d become fancier, white rims framing pointed lenses. A long coat of pink feathers trailed almost to the floor, matching the black one around the younger man’s own shoulders. Doflamingo was always the more fashionable of the pair. As a child, he demanded all the best clothes, and even after they left Mariejois, he was the one who suggested they make feather cloaks in the first place. _Look! With these, we’ll be warmer! And don’t they make us look like kings, Roci?_

His voice shook just slightly as he questioned the vision standing before him, wanting so badly for this to be true. “…Elder brother?”

The taller man’s grin widened just a tad, and he chuckles. The distinct sound, it’s just like Roci remembered. “It’s been a long time, little brother. You’ve made quite the name for yourself, haven’t you? You’d have thought it would’ve been easier to find you again.” He stayed leaning against the door for now, the perfect picture of calmness. He must be hiding his excitement.

Rocinante was rushing to Doflamingo to embrace him as soon as the word “brother” left the latter’s mouth. He hugged him tightly, then pulled back, gripping his forearms and smiling up at him. “Elder brother! Ani-sama! Doffy!” He couldn’t decide which name he liked best, but it didn’t matter. He had plenty of time now to decide, right? As long as the man in question was there with him. This was hands down the best day of his life. Better even than the day Trebol gave him the power to plunge the world into a perfect, serene stability.

“Where have you been?” he asked, trembling in his total happiness. “I almost thought that I’d just imagined you, but look, you’re here! You’re really here!”

Doflamingo grinned down at his brother and would have patted him on the head if his arms weren’t still in that iron grip. He made a mental vow to himself that he would do it when he got the chance. He still did love his brother after all, even after all these years being apart, even after everything he’d heard that Roci had done. He let himself feel his own heart leap with joy.

“Yes, it’s me. I’m sorry, I would have been here for you sooner, but so many things happened, and I couldn’t reach you. But you’ve done so well for yourself in my absence, do you even need me to look after you anymore? Fuffufu!” Any doubt that this was the real Doffy could be erased with that unique laugh of his.

“Hey, you vanished without a trace and your only excuse is ‘things happened?’ You better tell me the whole story.” Rocinante grinned back. That real smile hidden under the painted one was generally reserved for those who’d gained his trust, the higher-ranking members of his family. But Doflamingo had his trust from the very beginning, from the second he saw him as a child, from the moment he walked through his chamber door. In his excitement, he continues on without waiting for the explanation he asked for. There would be plenty of time for it later. “And just so you know, I’m not a child anymore! I don’t need you to look after me, maybe I should be the one watching over you!” He laughs and starts leading his big brother to the door again. “In fact, I’ll repay you now! I’m so much happier than I used to be, so let me share that with you, Ani-sama! Come on, let’s—”

In his haste and excitement, he forgot to look where he was going, and hit the doorframe face-first. In a sequence that only Corazon himself could pull off, he bounced off the frame and fell backward, landing on his back with his feet up in the air.

“Are you sure you don’t need me to take care of you? I see you still don’t have complete mastery over your own two feet!” The pink-feathered man couldn’t help himself, and burst out laughing at the sight. For all the man’s talk about how he was so much more mature and self-sufficient, some things never do change. He was still just as clumsy as when he was small. His limbs never did seem to want to obey him properly. The older man held out a hand to help his hapless little brother to his feet.

“Hey, just because I’m a little klutzy doesn’t mean I can’t take care of myself!” Roci retorts, pink-faced as he takes the hand, climbing to his feet again. “You know what kind of name I’ve got for myself, I could probably even do a number on you!” Not that he particularly wanted to. He would far rather sit on Doffy’s lap and read a story with him, or curl up and cuddle with him, than fight him at all. Doflamingo was likely the only one both big and affectionate enough for it. Trebol, Pica, and Diamante all met the first requirement easily, but not the second. They’d worked hard to sap the desire for loving attention from Rocinante, and would probably be irritated or make fun of him if he tried to get it from them.

“Yes, yes, I’m sure you could. But it’s not like I’m a shabby fighter, myself, little brother.”

“Well, we can see about that some other time! Come on, I’ll introduce you to the family right away.”

“Well, I met a few on my way to meet you, but I suppose a proper introduction _would_ be nice.” Doflamingo let the shorter man lead him down the hallway, once again amused at his enthusiasm. It was easy to forget what kind of atrocities he’d committed, when he was like this. Doffy wiped that thought from his mind. The less he thought about that for the next few weeks, the better. He had to get to know his brother and the crew first.

Corazon’s heart wouldn’t stop pounding as he led his most precious brother to the main dining hall, where the other members of the family had already gathered. They noticeably stopped talking amongst themselves when their captain arrived, and looked up to listen when he cleared his throat.

“Everyone, this is Doflamingo, my elder brother and someone very precious to me, so treat him kindly as we welcome him into the family!” As if this wasn’t odd enough, inviting an outsider to join the inner circle so soon, it paled in comparison to the next half of the announcement. “He’ll take the place of an executive, but he won’t replace any of you. He’ll be a new seat, the Joker.” He smiled happily, squeezing Doffy’s hand.

The other members of the family murmured in disapproval and confusion. Trebol speaks up first.

“Hold on, Roci! Are you sure about this?”

“Yeah, Young Master, I think Tre—!” _Crack._

Rocinante could have tolerated the question coming from one of his executives, but when Buffalo stood up to agree, he faced the captain’s famous wrath. The man’s heel was now planted against Buffalo’s head, pinning him to the nearest wall. His ankle twisted, attempting to further injure the startled child. The rest of the room fell dead silent immediately. Conqueror’s Haki hit everyone in the room like a sledgehammer as he spoke again.

“As I was saying, Ani-sama will be staying with us.”

Doflamingo, through this, barely changed expression at all. In fact, his smile simply seemed to grow. His own will was plenty strong enough to withstand the pressure from his brother’s Haki, despite his surprise that the man could use it.

“Yes, it’s so nice to meet you all,” he snickered. “Thank you for keeping my precious little brother company all this time, fuffufu. I’m just thrilled to be here.” Doflamingo paused for dramatic effect.

“As the Joker.”

 


End file.
